4 Apr
2011
4 Apr
'11
8:59 a.m.
On 4/3/11 8:07 PM, Chris M wrote:
Can't say anything other then it's in my car.
It'll be the second
"plotter" I've picked up for little or nothing (I was actually a good
10 miles from "ground zero" before I realized this thing is just a
big ink jet printer, not a plotter). Anyway it should be good for
making large format schematics and whatnot. Doesn't everybody love
those? Anyone w/docs or drivers please contact me. Perhaps offlist.
Yes, the architecture/engineering (in the "we make buildings"
context) world uses those a lot. The big inkjets replaced pen plotters
a long time ago, but these guys still call them "plotters" even though
that's not what they are. Yet another case of an industry using tools
that they don't understand, but whatever. I love using them for schematics.
The newer models fetch big bucks (thousands, sometimes more) on the
used market if they work. The older ones typically go for hundreds.
Even parts units typically fetch $100+, so finding one in any condition
for free (or nearly so) is a good score.
I may be able to get some service manuals (a friend owns a company
that maintains dozens of those plotters in the field), but as far as
drivers...they speak Postscript and/or PCL, depending on how they're
configured, and nearly all of them have Ethernet and speak standard
LPR/LPD protocol...one would be hard-pressed to find any OS release from
the past fifteen years that won't handle those natively. These big
inkjets will work with almost anything.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL